I know what you’re thinking - “that’s a pretty bold headline”. I kinda felt the same way as I was writing it. But like the old adage says, “if the shoe fits”…

Newton’s Law of action and reaction is playing out in the Constitution State.

A few Connecticut lawmakers apparently have it out for the state’s hunting and trapping community. According to the state’s legislative website, House Bills 6014 and 6013 seek to put an end to regulated trapping activities, and stop the “expansion” of hunting activities.

H.B. 6014: AN ACT PROHIBITING THE USE OF LEGHOLD AND BODY CRUSHING TRAPS, seeks to do just that - prohibit the use of foothold and body-grip traps. Notice the shift in terminology there. As a sidebar, I can always tell “who I’m dealing with” based on the vocab. There aren’t too many modern traps that restrain an animal by the leg; modern restraint traps, when used appropriately, are designed to catch most animals by the pad of the foot or just above the pad. Hence the term “foothold” as opposed to leg-hold.

As for “body-crushing” - we’re not sure what kind of traps those are, since none of the traps we’ve used ever “crushed” a trapped animal. The only “body-crushing” trap I’m familiar with is the four-wheeled one that drones up and down our highways minute by minute - like the ones these legislaitors drive; how’s that for irony? We assume they’re talking about “body-gripping” traps - y’know, the ones that were financed by the The Association for the Protection of Fur Bearing Animals, and received multiple awards for humane standards? The ones that continue to be scientifically tested for effectiveness through ongoing research in humane catch. Yeah - those traps.

How can we expect these folks to have any idea how trapping works when they can’t even get the terminology right!?

Anyway, as if 6014 wasn’t crazy enough, the same four politicians introduced H.B. 6013: AN ACT PROHIBITING THE EXPANSION OF HUNTING IN CONNECTICUT, which vaguely states “to prevent the expansion of hunting in the state.” Uh - what? “Expansion” of hunting? The folks behind the drafting of these bills seem to feel the state’s hunting community is a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise apparently.

As for the full language of the bills - as of the posting of this article, no formal, detailed verbage has been released on the state’s legislative website. Both bills were referred to the Joint Committee on Environment last week. Connecticut residents can inquire to the bill’s status by contacting the Office of the House Clerk.

A Conservation Quandary

Photo | Connecticut DEEP

So where do we come to the determination that these bills have the potential to degrade conservation efforts?

After getting a call from a local coyote trapper who’d “bagged” a bobcat in a live-restraint foothold trap, Hawley moved in to advance the state’s project data.

“We sent two people over to Lebanon. They drugged the cat. Tranquilized it. Put it in our carrier that we use,” Hawley told CPR in during the interview.

Wildlife professionals collected samples from the trapped ‘cat, including a small molar for identifying the ‘cat’s age. DNA was also taken. Measurements were recorded of the animal’s head and neck, and an ear tag applied. Finally, the bobcat was outfitted with a GPS collar, which will fall off automatically in about 300 days. All of this important data and insight gained with the help of a licensed trapper - and his trap of course.

According to DEEP’s content on the bobcat project, local trappers have also been called upon to assist the Department with live-trapping bobcats. Data from those trapped bobcats included record of individual weight, age, and sex. (I’ll add, much to the likely dismay of local trapping critics, the bobcat didn’t have missing limbs or chewed up its own feet from being restrained in the trap - shocking, I know; those of us who know how this equipment really works are all just “reeling” from the revelation.)

As this conservation work continues, four state legislators and one all-encompassing restrictive bill are looking to halt this contributing component to the bobcat project. This latest chapter in our saga seems to fit right in with our recently released Politics & Wildlife Management resource.

We’d like to think this is simply a miscommunication from people who don’t know all the facts about regulated hunting and trapping. Alas - we aren’t going to hold our breath for an acknowledgement on lapse of judgement.

Connecticut sportsmen/women and conservationists are encouraged to contact their legislators and implore them to stop the madness put forth by Rep Kupchick (R-132), Rep Camillo (R-151), Rep Michel (D-146), and Senator Duff (D-25).

Connecticut House Bills 6014 and 6013 seek to effective trapping methods and “prohibit the expansion of hunting” in the Constitution State. 6014 is introduced as the Connecticut trapping community is in the midst of assisting with ongoing bobcat conservation projects across the state. (Read more).

A bobcat that went on a two-day rampage in the Upper Valley region of Vermont was rabid. Vermont Fish & Wildlife confirmed the testing of the animal’s remains on Thursday came back positive for the rabies virus.

Is New Hampshire finding its way out of a cyclical “boom and bust” fisher trend? Current data is great for checking trends, but does it give you the root cause of a perceived decline? Biologists have stated fisher appear to be adapting (and thriving) in more urban areas; have these creatures forgone the dense hemlock groves where trappers roam for the dumpsters and back decks of suburban sprawl?

Connecticut’s DEEP Wildlife Division is conducting an ongoing project to determine bobcat habitat use within the state. Data from the project will also be used to determine the abundance and population range of bobcats in the state.

They say water is good for your health. Too much water however, is toxic, and can lead to death. North America’s predators are great - but they aren’t Gods. Both top and meso predators alike should be regarded as a key component of wildlife ecology, but also require the same conservation management as other wild species.

Buzz-terms like “trophy hunting”, “apex predator”, and “self-regulation” have all grown eight hairy legs as they scurry across the pages of editorials and social media posts. These terms have been taken far from their original meaning as they’re now regularly juxtaposed in pseudoscience to display a narrative that is flawed, exaggerated, and tiredly over-used.

Hoarding and stockpiling our wildlife never works. One way or another, New Hampshire’s public, politicians, and the NH Fish & Game Department are going to have face the reality that nobody should be proud of New Hampshire’s Dumpster Cat.